Nena Jolidon Croake

First State Representative
1913-1915

“Consideration for women is a measure of the nation’s progress.” - Nena Jolidon Croake

Among the great mysteries surrounding the life of pioneer Nena Jolidon Croake are
her true date of birth, her education, and her life outside Washington State.

Born in Illinois in 1865, Croake married Pierce County Deputy Sheriff John Croake
on February 4, 1893, in British Columbia. She spent at least 25 years in Pierce
County. The suffragist fought for women’s issues alongside iconic figures like Emma
Smith DeVoe. Croake served as an Auditor and a Vice President of the Washington
Equal Suffrage Association.

Croake was a Progressive and an active campaigner. She made a habit of talking to
women about the suffrage movement to stir interest. She even targeted a group she
labeled the “stay-at-homes and the sometimes disinterested.” For her, there was
no greater cause. In fact, Croake’s mantra became: “Consideration for Women is the
Measure of a nation’s progress.”

She’d travel house-to-house and talk to women about child labor, the death penalty,
and technical training. After women won the vote in Washington in 1910, Croake pushed
for women to hold public office.

“It is only just and fair that (they) should be given a trial,” she declared bluntly.
Croake ran for the State House and won in 1912. The lawmaker advocated for pensions
for abandoned mothers on the campaign trail, and the creation of women’s minimum
wage.

Croake, a force in the field of medicine as a Doctor of Osteopathy, is believed
to be one of Tacoma’s first female physicians.

Nena Jolidon Croake left Tacoma and at some point settled in Los Angeles, where
she died in 1934.

Quick Facts

Fighting for women's voting rights with Emma Smith DeVoe in 1909 and 1910, Croake
served as an Auditor and a Vice President of the Washington Equal Suffrage Association.

Elected as a Progressive, Croake urged women to run for office. "It is only just and
fair that (they) should be given a trial," she declared.

The lawmaker advocated pensions for abandoned mothers on the campaign trail, and pushed
for womens minimum wage.

Croake, a force in the field of medicine as a Doctor of Osteopathy, is believed to
be one of Tacomas first female physicians.